Current methods and systems for translating text from one language to another include the use of a stand-alone personal computer (PC) executing language translation software. A computer user can enter text in English, for example, and have the text translated into any language made available by the particular translation software executing on the computer. In addition, there are network based language translation systems that translate text from one language to another. For example, numerous Web sites are available that allow a user to enter words or groups of words in one language and then select a target language into which the words will be translated.
The same general methods and systems apply when a user wants to print a document having text in one language as a document where the text is in a different language. An example of this might be an American employee of a multinational corporation wanting to print a copy of a presentation prepared in Japanese by a colleague in the Tokyo office. The text must first be separated from the document while leaving any graphical components intact. The text is then entered into an available language translation system (e.g., on a PC or network) where it is translated into another language. The translated text is then reinserted into the document and the document is printed.
There are several disadvantages with this method of language translation printing. The first involves the use of stand-alone PC's executing language translation software and applies not only to language translation printing but to language translation in general. For businesses whose employees require language translation capability, providing language translation software for each employee's computer can be quite expensive. Maintaining the software on each computer with periodic upgrades creates additional and ongoing financial burdens not only in software costs, but also in the time required for such maintenance.
Other problems associated with the use of stand-alone PC's for language translation include a burden placed on PC's with limited resources for storing and executing the software. The ability to store and process other important applications on a limited purpose PC may be impaired by an employee's need to execute language translation software. Finally, web-based translation services require a connection to the internet in order to access the translation service.
The use of network based language translation systems can alleviate some of the costs associated with the need to provide multiple users with language translation printing. In addition, network based systems remove the burden from PC's of the added storage and processing capability required for implementing language translation software. However, the main disadvantage associated with both PC and network or web-based translation systems remains. The manual task of extracting text from a document having graphical and textual content, entering the text into a language translation system, and then reinserting the translated text back into the document so that the document can be printed in a different language is very tedious and time consuming.
Accordingly, the need exists for a way to provide language translation printing for multiple users that does not require expensive software and additional computing resources for each user, and that automatically separates text from graphics in a document, translates the text into a different language, and prints the document with the translated text.